FRIDAY, April 5, 2019 -- As Americans face shortages of widely used blood pressure drugs due to contamination with potentially cancer-causing impurities, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday said patients can safely take the tainted drugs in the short term.

As the agency explained, the risk of stroke and other problems from stopping the angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) medications -- drugs such as losartan and valsartan -- far outweighs than the potential threat of cancer from briefly taking the impure drugs.

While findings in animals may not translate to humans, researchers of the new study -- released Thursday in the American Heart Association journal Hypertension -- hope to find a new tool to help battle the epidemic of high-salt diets, a major risk factor for hypertension.

FRIDAY, March 8, 2019 -- People taking blood pressure medications have faced a frightening and bewildering series of pharmaceutical recalls in recent months, as trace amounts of cancer-causing chemicals have been discovered in individual batches of drugs.

But experts from the nation's leading heart groups are urging patients to remain calm, even as the recall list continues to grow.

THURSDAY, March 7, 2019 -- Prior studies have suggested that a little drinking might help the heart. But rigorous new research suggests the opposite, finding that even a drink or two per day is tied to rising blood pressure.

"I think this will be a turning point for clinical practice, as well as for future research, education and public health policy regarding alcohol consumption," said lead author Dr. Amer Aladin, a cardiology fellow at Wake Forest Baptist Health in Winston-Salem, N.C.